Self-supporting extension ladder



June 3 1 24- 1,496,201

' C. E. BAXTER SELF SUPPORTING EXTENSION LADDER [0i 5 Filed Jan. 11', 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 a; 5- -i= I v In vnvrafi. (H/1171.55 511x 75/7.

June 3', 1924. 1,496,201

' C. E. BAXTER SELF SUPPORTING EXTENSION LADDER Filed Jan. 11, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet, 2

. Ms flrromvsx June 3, 1924.

Filed Jan. 11 1922 c. E. BAXTER SELF SUPPORTING EXTENSION LADDER 3 Sheets-Shes?v 5 l' hul il Patented June 3, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT CHARLES E. BAXTER. on PARK RAPIDS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR or ONE-sooner; To

RUSSELL o. WEBSTER, or PARK RAPIDS, MnmEso'rA. i

SELF-SUPFORTING EXTENSION LADDER.

Application filed January 11 1922. Serial no. 528,85'?.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARL s E. Bnx'rnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Park Rapids, in the county of Hubbard and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful 1m rovements in Self-Supporting Extension adders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention such m as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

ldhis invention relates to an extension hidder of the type in which two ladder sections w are employed, one of which is slidahie in relation to the other.

It is "an object of this invention to provide such a ladder with hracing members connected thereto hya joint comprising pivots disposed at right angies to each other wherefifl equip the top portions of the two ladder by a nniversal movementof the-brace is per- 1nitted,said braces being adj ustahly secured to one of the iadder sections.

It is another object of the invention to sections with connecting devices whereby the said ladder sections can he pivotally connected and conveniently arranged to form a scaffolding support.

it is a still further object of the invention to provide the ladders with attachments whereby the same Wili have great utility when used in the roofing operations on a building.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will he fully set forth in the followin description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. and in which" Fig. i is s View in front eievation or" the lad er. brace at each side being shown in a diii'erent position;

Fig. ladder in extended position;

Fig. 3 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation showing the ladder arranged as a scafiolding support;

2? is a View in side elevation of the Fig. 5 is a View on an enlarged scale of the end members of the ladder;. Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken-on 1h line 6-6 of Fig. 5; 1 q

Fig. 7 is a View in side elevation ofthe brace joint and connecting member;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line L'-S ofFig.7; I

Figs. 9 and 10 are side and front elevations, respectively, of a hookattachment for the ends of the ladder; 11 is a View showing the use of the iadder sections in a roofing operation;

Fig. 12 is a vertical section taken :on' the line 1212 of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 13 is a vertical section-takenzon the line 13 13 of Fig. l1. w

Referring to the drawings. the device comprises a ladder section 1 which may he rcferred to as the outer ladder sectidmend another ladder section 2 of less width the side portions of which are adapted to be received within the side portions of the ladder section 1. The ladder section 1 has secured thereto adjacent or at its upper ends e member 1 comprising a metal strap extending over the top of the side portions'of the ladder section 2. The ladder section 2 nequipped adjacent its bottom edges with members 3 comprising fiat metal pieces sccured to the sides thereof and having a shouldered portion offset from. the said sides. the ends of said members being formed as points. The ladder section 1 has one or more rest upon the rollers 4: and that said iaddcr section can he moved iongitudinaily with respect to the'laddersection i. the sides thereof moving under the strap 1' and the Ladder section heing held in various extended positions by the members 3 engaging over the rounds of the ladder section 7.; as shown in Fi .2. I

The ladder section 1 has slidahie members 5 embracing the sides thereof, which me1n hers can also he applied to iadder section'%, the members heing shown in detail in Figs. Z and 8. As shown therein, the said H1831;

ice-

1 inner sides where an opening is left. so that sides of the ladder section 1 andtured lug portions prov ded with spaced lugs the members can be moved past the rounds of the ladder section. The clamping plate 5 is seated in one side of the casing and urged against the top of the ladder section side by a thumb screw 5*. A. plate 5 is secured to the side of the casing by suitable headed and nutted bolts and is formed with a semi-spherical projection thereon in which is seated a semispherical member 5 having an apertured projecting stem. Said stem is adapted to be embraced by spaced plates secured to a brace member 6, the said stem and plates being pivotally connected by a suitable headed and nutted bolt. In this structure it will be seen that the brace members 6 are connected to the sides of the ladder section by a joint comprising pivots extendingat right angles to each other and that the connecting members 5 can be adjusted longitudinally of the ladder section by manipulating the thumb screws 5. The lower ends of the brace members 6 are provided with pointed plate members bolted thereto and the lower ends of the sides of the ladder section 1 are provided with 'metal sleeve members 7 also provided with pointed ends and having clamping plates 7 held therein which are urged against the ladder section by the thumb screw 7 to clamp the members 7 securely thereto. The members 7 are provided at their upper ends with laterally projecting apertnred lugs 7. When the brace members 6 are extended for use, brace rods 8 which ma if desired be constructed to be adjusta la in length by a turn buckle, or otherwise, connect the same to the members 7, said brace rods being formed with hooked end portions adapted to hook into .the lugs 7 and into eyelots or staples shown as secured to the brace members 6. When the ladder is not in use, thesame is amembled in compact form by swinging the lower ends of the brace members inwardly into parallel relation with the disposing the pointed ends of the plates at the ends thereof in the apertures of the lugs 7", the brace rods 8 then being disposed along the sides of the brace members 6, one end thereof being frictionally held in a spring clip .9 secured to said brace rod. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5, sleeves 7 are open at both ends and are thus reversible so that their ointed ends can be disficlised upwardly if esired.

e upper ends of the side portions of ,the ladder sections 1 and 2 have secured thereto metal members 10 comprising plates surrounding said sides, bolted or riveted thereto, and having u nding and aper- 10, for a purpose to later described. If desired, the member 1 on the ladder section 1 may be made integral with the members 10 thereon or this member may be separate and bolted to the sides of the ladder section.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the ladder sections 1 and 2 can be placed with the apertured lugs of the 'member 10 in alinement said members being connected by suitable pivot bolts so that the ladder sections 1 and 2 can be moved with their base portions extended more or less, as desired. The ladder sections are disposed in this manner to form a support for a scaffolding, the members of which may be placed across the rounds of the ladder. With this arrangement, the braces 6 are disposed as shown in Fig. 4 and adjustable tie members may be used, the said members ,comprising hook members 11, to one of which is connected a chain 12, and to the end of the other of which is detachably fastened a snap hook adapted to be snapped into different links of the chain, according to the length desired. The sides of the ladder section 1 and the brace 6 may be connected by a similar member, the hooks of which take into the lugs 7 and the staples in said braces.

.The ladder sections are also arranged to be equipped with hook members 13 formed as shown in Figs. 9 and 10 and having an at-' taching portion consisting of a fl-at bar adapted to be received between the lugs 10 of the members 10 and to be bolted to said' lugs, the ends of said hook members engaging the tops of the members 10. -These hook members are of great utility when the ladder is used for roofing operations, but as will be appa ent, are capable of'many other uses.

To adapt the ladder sections for use in shingling and other roofing operations, the

braces 6 are removed from the member 5 and said members are equipped with book, shaped devices 14 having an a rtured portion adapted to be bolted to the stem of member 5 and havin a rectangular hook portion provided wit ,a clamping screw 14: inwhic'h hook portion a plank or board a is adapted to rest. The members 7 of the ladder have connected thereto a somewhat The rows of shingles or other roofing ma- 1 terialieanthugbeaccurately and convenient- 1y piitifi'placefi It is thought the the use and operation of the ladder will be understood from the above description. Attention may, however, be called to the fact that the braces 6 are universally movable so that they can be swung about the sides of the ladder section 1 to any desired position, the members 5 moving on the sides of the ladder section to accommodate such positions. The ladder section 2 can be easily moved to extended position resting on the rounds of the ladder section; 1 and the rollers 4:. When in this extended position-the ladder section 2 is, as stated, supported by members?) and the brace 111cm.- bers will then be disposed, as shown in Fig. 2. As has been found in practice, the braceforms a very efiicient support and the ladder will support a great weight at its upper end without any dan er of tipping.

The ladder is designed to be constructed of two or more sections, each from twelve to twenty-two feet in length, so that when fully extended, a ladder of forty feet or more in length may be had. The members 5 and 5 constitutea type of ball and socket joint and one having a large bearing surface. Various parts of the ladder can be quickly and easily attached and detached and when not in use the ladder can becollapsed to compact position so as to require small space for storage or deportation, as illustrated in Fig. 1. 1

It will, of course, be understood that various changes' may be madein the form, details and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An extension ladder having in combination, an outer ladder section, a sleeve adjustably clamped to the bottom ofeach side of said section having a point at one ;end thereof and a laterally projectin apertured lug at its other end, an inner la der section longitudinally slidable on said outer section, brace members carrying means slidable along the sides of said outer section for the entire. length thereof, said brace members having pointed members at theirlower ends, stay rods pivoted adjacent the lower ends of said brace rods and engageable in said apertured lugs, clips on said brace members for holding the ends of said stay-rodswhen disengaged from said lugs, said pointed members at the lower end. of said brace members being engageable insaid lugs when said ladder is collapsed and said brace me nbeing adapted to be disposed inside the sides of the outer section and to move in parallelism therewith, connecting means secured at the top of the sides of both of said sections whereby the same may be pivotally connected and have their lower ends sepa rated to form a scaflold support, the said connecting means having lugs formed there on constituting retaining members for hooks adapted to be attached thereto.

3. An extension ladder structure having in combination, an outer ladder section, an inner ladder section, connecting brackets secured to the tops of the sides of both ladder sections having apertures therein, and detachable hook members fitting and adapted to be secured to said connecting brackets through said apertures.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3, said connecting brackets being provided with spaced lugs forming channels, said hook members being disposed in said channels.

5. A ladder having a sleeve embracing the side thereof and slidable thereon, said sleeve having its outer side extended to form a point, a plate within said sleeve and secured at the ends thereof so as to he slidable therewith adapted to contact the side of said ladder and a screw threaded in said sleeve adapted to press said plate against for retaining said inner ladder section in extended position adjustable and detachable pointed supporting members comprising sleeves adapted to embrace and be clampedadjacent the lower ends of said outer ladder section, said sleeves having apertured laterally extending lugs, and brace members having their upper ends universally connected to the sides of said outer ladder section and having pointed lower ends adapt: ed to be received in said apertured lugs when the ladder is in folded osition.

7. An extension lad er structure having in combination an outer ladder section," an inner ladder section slidable longitudinally thereon, members embracing the sides of the outer ladder section and slidable thereon, means for holding said members in adjusted position, a plate secured to each of said members, and an apertured stem rotatably mounted between said plate and ,said member and projecting outwardly throu h said brace members having s aced plates secured to the upper end thereo and a pivot member extending through said plates and the aperture in said stem, said plvot extending 5 at riglht angles to the axis of said stem,

position, and to receive the pointed end of a race member connected to said ladder when the ladderis in inoperative position. v

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

Witnesses:

' c. L. BRA,

P. A. N.

CHARLES 11. BAXTERQ 

